Foldable scooter

ABSTRACT

A foldable scooter includes a footboard, a steering column and a connecting member in between. The connecting member includes an elongated housing with an upper covering surface and two mounting seats at the rear portion, a pushing member pivotally disposed between said mounting seats, a lever pivotally connected to the rear portion of the housing for moving the pushing member. The lever is shielded substantially by the housing under the upper covering surface. The connecting member further includes a positioning member connected to a biasing device disposed at the front end of the footboard for biasing the positioning member against the mounting seats.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a foldable scooter.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are numerous foldable scooter, for example, the U.S. Pat. Nos.6,270,095B1 and 6,234,501B1. The main disadvantage of these two citedarts is that the folding mechanism is located on the footboard and isexposed to the outside, which can be easily activated by the user whenriding the scooter by accident. The location of the mounting seats onthe footboard also cause inconvenience to the user when riding thescooter. The mounting seats being exposed will easily injure the userwhen accident occurs.

The mounting seats in U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,405B1 are covered by aconnector plate, but the slots on the plate is a dangerous feature asthe user may inadvertently place the finger in the slot when folding thescooter, and be injured by the flanges moving in the slots.

There is another foldable scooter existing in the market as shown inFIGS. 1 a and 1 b. The disadvantage of this foldable scooter is thatsuch folding assembly contains many open slots 910, 920, 930 for thecorresponding parts to slide therein or to provide space for thefolding, which cause potential hazards to the user when folding thescooter. The user may accidentally place the finger in one of the slots910, 920, 930 and be injured when the scooter is being folded.

The lever 940 being located on the upper surface of the footboard alsocause inconvenience to the user when riding the scooter. When riding thescooter, the user may accidentally kick the lever and cause the scooterto collapse to the folded condition. The footboard should be kept freefrom any mechanical parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an objective of the present invention to provide an improvedfoldable scooter which is more safe and convenient to the user.

The scooter of the present invention includes a footboard, a steeringcolumn and a connecting member in between. The connecting memberincludes an elongated housing with an upper covering surface and twomounting seats at the rear portion, a pushing member pivotally disposedbetween said mounting seats, a lever pivotally connected to the rearportion of the housing for moving the pushing member. The lever isshielded substantially by the housing under the upper covering surface.The connecting member further includes a positioning member connected toa biasing device disposed at the front end of the footboard for biasingthe positioning member against the mounting seats.

An advantage of the present invention is that the lever of the scooterof the present invention is disposed substantially inside the housing ofthe connecting member and is shielded by the housing. The pulling handlefor pulling the lever is located on the connecting member and is distantfrom the footboard.

Another advantage is that the pushing member is designed not to have anysharp edges exposed to the outside. The pushing member includes a firstlump and a second lump for respectively disengaging the positioningmember from the mounting seats when opening and folding the scooter. Thepushing member has a smooth, wide and curved surface without any sharpedges exposed to the outside to eliminate any potential injury to becaused to the user when accident occurs. The pushing member is disposedbetween the mounting seats with an outer exposed surface at the samelevel of or at a slightly higher level than the adjacent mounting seatsto prevent the mounting seats from sticking out which causes potentialdanger to the user.

In the present invention, the main parts involved in the foldingmechanism including the lever, the positioning member and the biasingdevice are all substantially shielded from the outside.

The present invention eliminates most of the slots and open spaces fromexposing to the outside, which may cause injury to the user during theopening and folding of the scooter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent upon consideration of the followingdetailed description of preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction withthe accompanying figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 a is a perspective view of a foldable scooter currently availablein the market.

FIG. 1 b is a partial perspective view of the foldable scooter in FIG. 1a.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the foldable scooter in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the foldable scooter in FIG. 2 in the opencondition.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the foldable scooter in FIG. 2 in the foldedcondition.

FIG. 6 is an explosive view of the foldable scooter in FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the mounting seat of the foldable scooter inFIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the pushing member of the foldable scooter inFIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the lever of the foldable scooter in FIG. 2.

FIG. 10 illustrates the assembly of the connecting member, the pushingmember and the mounting seat of the foldable scooter in FIG. 2.

FIGS. 11 a-e illustrate the corresponding positions of the pushingmember, the lever and the positioning member with respect to themounting seat of the foldable scooter in FIG. 2 between the open andfolded conditions.

FIG. 12 is a perspective bottom view of the positioning member in thefootboard of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 2-5, a preferred embodiment of the present inventionis a scooter 10 including a footboard 100, a steering column 200 and aconnecting member 300 connecting the footboard 100 to the steeringcolumn 200.

The connecting member 300 has a front portion 310 rotatably connected tothe steering column 200, a rear portion 350 pivotally connected to afront end 110 of the footboard 100 and an elongated housing 320 inbetween the front portion 310 and the rear portion 350. The frontportion 310, for example, is a cylindrical hollow column surrounding alower portion 210 of the steering column 200 such that the steeringcolumn 200 can be turned freely inside the front portion 310.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the housing 320 has an upper covering surface322 and two walls 324 on the side. The rear portion 350 includes twomounting seats 360 extended from the side walls 324. Each mounting seat360 contains a first pivot hole 363 for pivotally connecting to thefront end 110 of the footboard 100, and a first notch 361 and a secondnotch 362 for receiving and engaging with a positioning member 400respectively in the open condition and the folded condition of thescooter 10. The positioning member 400, for example, may be apositioning shaft.

The positioning member 400 is connected to a first biasing device, forexample, a spring 410 disposed at the front end 110 of the footboard100. The spring 410 biases the positioning member 400 against themounting seats 360 to lock the positioning member 400 in the first notch361 and the second notch 362.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 6, 8 and 10, a pushing member 370 is disposed inthe housing 320 at the rear portion 350 between the mounting seats 360for disengaging the positioning member 400 from the mounting seats 360.The pushing member 370 has a smooth and curved outer surface 376 with afirst lump 371 and a second lump 372 for pushing the positioning member400 away from the mounting seats 360, and a first groove 381 and asecond groove 382 for engaging with the positioning member 400. Thefirst groove 381 and the second groove 382 are positioned and configuredto match with the shape of the mounting seats 360 and the positions ofthe first notch 361 and the second notch 362. A second pivot hole 373 onthe pushing member 370 is pivotally connected to the front end 110 ofthe footboard 100.

In the open condition, the outer surface 376 of the pushing member 370positioned between the upper exposed portions 365 of the mounting seats360 is at the same level of or at slightly higher level than the upperexposed portions 365, such that the exposed portions 365 do not stickout to cause danger to the user.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 8, 9 and 10, the pushing member 370 also includes acavity 375 for receiving a push portion 392 of a lever 390. The pushportion 392 is shielded in the cavity 375. The push portion 392 has asimilar shape as the pushing member 370, having a first notch 393, asecond notch 394 which match with the corresponding first groove 381 andsecond groove 382 of the pushing member 370, and a first flange 395 anda second flange 396 which match with the corresponding first lump 371and second lump 372, so that the force from the lever 390 can be appliedevenly on the pushing member 370.

The lever 390 has a lever portion 398 opposite to the push portion 392for the user to apply force to operate the pushing member 370. A thirdpivot hole 397 is formed on the lever 390. In the embodiment, the leverportion 398 extends beyond an open slot 325 on the upper coveringsurface 322 of the housing 320, for connecting with a pulling handle326. The lever portion 398 is movable along the open slot 325 when thepulling handle 326 is pulled by the user.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a second biasing device for example, a spring391 connects the lever portion 398 to a lower plate 328 of the housing320. The spring 391 returns the lever portion 398 to the originalposition in the housing 320 after being pulled by the user.

As shown in FIG. 11 a, in the open condition of the scooter 10, thepositioning member 400 is engaged in the first notch 361 of the mountingseats 360 and the first groove 381 of the pushing member 370, such thatthe positioning member 400 is locked on the mounting seats 360.

As shown in FIG. 11 b, when the user pulls the pulling handle 326, thepush portion 392 of the lever 390 causes the pushing member 370 torotate pivotally and the first lump 371 to push the positioning member400 away and disengage from the first notch 361 of the mounting seats360.

As shown in FIG. 11 c, the footboard 100 is folded toward the steeringcolumn 200 until the positioning member 400 is engaged with the secondnotch 362 and the second groove 382 in the folded condition and lockedtherein. The spring 391 is stretched when the pulling handle 326 ispulled, and is compressed to return the lever portion 398 to theoriginal position in the housing 320 in the folded condition.

As shown in FIGS. 11 d and 11 e, to open the scooter 10 from the foldedcondition, the user pulls the pulling handle 326 to rotate the pushportion 392 of the lever 390 pivotally and causes the second lump 372 ofthe pushing member 370 to push the positioning member 400 away anddisengage from the second notch 362 of the mounting seats 360. Thefootboard 100 and the steering column 200 are unfolded until thepositioning member 400 is engaged with the first notch 361 and the firstgroove 381 in the open condition and locked therein as shown in FIG. 10a. The spring 391 is stretched when the pulling handle 326 is pulled,and is compressed to return the lever portion 398 to the originalposition in the housing 320 in the open condition.

The lower plate 328 of the housing 320 shields the pushing member 370and the push portion 392 of the lever 390 to prevent the user fromaccidentally inserting the finger from below the housing 320 whenopening or unfolding the scooter 10.

As shown in FIG. 12, two elongated supporting members 140 extend from abottom surface 135 of the footboard 100 for supporting the footboard 100against the weight of the user. At the front end 110, a fourth pivothole 115 is formed on the supporting member 140. A pivotal pin 118 isdisposed though the first, second, third and fourth pivot holes 363,373, 397, 115 for joining the footboard 100, the connecting member 300,the pushing member 370 and the lever 390 together.

A slit 150 is disposed on each supporting member 140 for receiving theends 402 of the positioning member 400 so that the positioning member400 can be slidably moved along the slits 150 when operating between theopen and folded conditions.

The body portion 405 of the positioning member 400, for example themiddle portion, is attached to an end 422 of a first pin 420. The firstpin 420 is slidably disposed through a hole 435 in a body portion 432,for example the middle portion, of a second pin 430, which has two ends433, 434 each attached to the corresponding supporting member 140. Acase 440 is attached to the supporting member 140 for shielding thepositioning member 400, the first and second pins 420, 430 and thespring 410.

As shown in FIG. 3, a rear wheel 130 and a fender 132 for braking therear wheel 130 are attached to the rear end 120 of the footboard 100.The steering column 200 may be telescopic for reducing the height whenfolding. A front wheel 222 is attached to the lower end 220 of thesteering column 200. A steering handle 242 is attached to the upper end230 of the steering column 200. The steering handle 242 may be detachedand mounted on a clip 245 attached to the steering column 200 in thefolded condition.

The embodiments described in this specification and the contentsdisclosed therein are provided by way of illustration only. Theinvention can be applied equally well on other types of foldablescooter.

While the invention has been described in detail with reference todisclosed embodiments, various modifications within the scope of theinvention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in thistechnological field. It is to be appreciated that features describedwith respect to one embodiment typically may be applied to otherembodiments.

1. A foldable scooter operating between an open condition and a foldedcondition, comprising: a footboard having a front end and a rear endattached to a rear wheel; a steering column having a lower end attachedto a front wheel and an upper end attached to a steering handle; aconnecting member having an elongated housing with an upper coveringsurface, a front portion rotatably connected to said steering column anda rear portion pivotally connected to the front end of said footboard,said rear portion having two mounting seats each having a first notchand a second notch, a pushing member pivotally disposed at said rearportion between said mounting seats, a lever pivotally connected to saidrear portion inside said housing for moving said pushing member, whereinsaid lever is shielded substantially by said housing under said uppercovering surface; a positioning member connected to a first biasingdevice disposed at the front end of said footboard for biasing saidpositioning member against said mounting seats, said positioning memberis positioned at said first notch in the open condition and at saidsecond notch in the folded condition, whereby said pushing memberdisengages said positioning member from said first or second notch tooperate between the open and folded conditions.
 2. The foldable scooteras recited in claim 1, wherein said pushing member further comprises afirst lump and a second lump, said first lump disengages saidpositioning member from said first notch to operate the scooter from theopen condition to the folded condition, said second lump disengages saidpositioning member from said second notch to operate the scooter fromthe folded condition to the open condition.
 3. The foldable scooter asrecited in claim 1, wherein said pushing member further comprises afirst groove and a second groove for engaging with said positioningmember in the corresponding open and folded conditions.
 4. The foldablescooter as recited in claim 2, wherein said pushing member furthercomprises a first groove and a second groove, said second groove isdisposed between said first and second lump, said first groove isdisposed adjacent to said first lump on the side opposite to said secondgroove.
 5. The foldable scooter as recited in claim 1, wherein said pushportion comprises a smooth and curved outer surface.
 6. The foldablescooter as recited in claim 5, wherein each said mounting seat having anupper exposed portion, said outer surface disposed between said upperexposed portions is at the same level of or at slightly higher levelthan said upper exposed portions.
 7. The foldable scooter as recited inclaim 1, wherein said lever further comprises a push portion for drivingsaid pushing member, said pushing member having a cavity for receivingsaid push portion, whereby said push portion is shielded inside saidpushing member.
 8. The foldable scooter as recited in claim 3, whereinsaid lever further comprises a push portion for driving said pushingmember, said pushing member having a cavity for receiving said pushportion, whereby said push portion is shielded inside said pushingmember.
 9. The foldable scooter as recited in claim 8, wherein said pushportion further comprises a first notch and a second notch configuredand positioned to match with said corresponding first groove and secondgroove.
 10. The foldable scooter as recited in claim 2, wherein saidpush portion further comprises a first flange and a second flangeconfigured and positioned to match with said corresponding first lumpand second lump.
 11. The foldable scooter as recited in claim 1, whereinsaid lever further comprises a lever portion for connecting with apulling handle, an open slot disposed in said upper covering surface ofsaid housing for said lever portion to move therein when operatingbetween the open and closed conditions.
 12. The foldable scooter asrecited in claim 11, wherein a second biasing device is deposed in saidhousing and attached to said lever portion for biasing said leverportion to an original position after operating between the open andclosed conditions.
 13. The foldable scooter as recited in claim 12,wherein said second biasing device is a spring.
 14. The foldable scooteras recited in claim 1, wherein said housing further comprises a lowerplate for shielding said pushing member and the push portion of saidlever.
 15. The foldable scooter as recited in claim 1, wherein saidfirst biasing device is a spring.
 16. The foldable scooter as recited inclaim 1, wherein said footboard further comprises a bottom surface andtwo elongated supporting members extending from said bottom surface,each supporting member having a slit at said front end, said positioningmember comprises a positioning shaft having two ends each slidablydisposed in said slit.
 17. The foldable scooter as recited in claim 16,wherein said first biasing device is mounted on a first pin having afirst end attached to said positioning shaft at a body portion thereof,said first pin is slidably disposed through a body portion of a secondpin having two ends each attached to said corresponding supportingmember.
 18. The foldable scooter as recited in claim 16, wherein saidhousing further comprises a first pivot hole at said rear portion, saidpushing member comprises a second pivot hole, said lever comprises athird pivot hole, each said supporting member comprises a fourth pivothole at said front end, a pivotal pin is disposed in said first, second,third and fourth pivot holes.
 19. The foldable scooter as recited inclaim 1, wherein said footboard further comprises a case for shieldingsaid positioning member and first biasing device.
 20. The foldablescooter as recited in claim 17, wherein said footboard further comprisesa case for shielding said positioning member, first biasing device,first and second pin.